Hunters often use decoys to lure fowl to a particular location. An early variety of decoy was formed of reeds or grasses that were woven into the general shape of an intended prey and colored accordingly. Additionally, feathers or other materials were often incorporated into woven decoys to impart a realistic appearance. A later form of decoy consisted of cork or other wood that was carved and painted so as to have the general appearance of the intended prey. These carved decoys were particularly suited for use on water to lure waterfowl, due to the natural buoyancy of the materials from which the decoys were formed.
In order to increase the visibility of decoys, and thereby increase the probability that airborne fowl will become aware of and attracted to the decoys, modern hunters often deploy dozens, if not hundreds, of decoys over relatively large areas of land or water. To facilitate such large deployments, the decoys used by modern hunters are typically lightweight, compact, and inexpensive to produce. These characteristics, however, are not generally found in woven and carved decoys. Accordingly, modern hunters often prefer decoys having a wind sock or other structure that inflates in the presence of wind.
One example of this type of decoy is shown in FIG. 1. As seen in this figure, decoy 10 includes a head structure 20 that is integrally formed with a stake 30. In addition, decoy 10 incorporates a flexible body 40 that has an opening 42. In order to deploy decoy 10, the hunter must insert stake 30 in an aperture 44 located in the lower portion of body 40 and adjacent to opening 42. The hunter then inserts the portion of body 40 that is located between an aperture 46 and opening 42 into a T-shaped slot 22 in head structure 20. A supplemental clip may be used to ensure that the portion of body 40 remains within slot 22. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,611,421 to Jacob, 4,651,457 to Nelson et al., and 4,753,028 to Farmer, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, disclose further examples of this type of decoy.
As noted above, a hunter often deploys numerous decoys over an area of land. To deploy the decoys, the hunter must carry many decoys into the field and then move from one location to another location, thereby distributing individual decoys at each location. As is apparent from the discussion of decoy 10, various steps are necessary to deploy each decoy 10. These steps may amount to a significant expenditure of time when multiplied by the number of decoys that hunters often deploy. Furthermore, these steps may require that the hunter utilize both hands and have fine motor control, especially when inserting body 40 into slot 22. During cold or extreme weather conditions, however, the hunter may find that gloves are necessary. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, gloves may diminish fine motor control of the hands, thereby hindering the deployment process. Moreover, hunters may find that decoy 10 is best deployed when the hunter crouches or sits near the elevation of the ground. Handicapped individuals may therefore find deployment of these conventional decoys to be a difficult process.
As seen in FIG. 1, decoy 10 includes an opening 42 through which wind passes to inflate body 40, the length of opening 42 being fixed. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the degree to which body 40 inflates and moves in the presence of wind is directly related to the vertical length of opening 42. When the vertical length of opening 42 is at its maximum, the sides of the opening 42 are pulled taught and cannot expand to catch the wind. Alternately, when the vertical length of opening 42 is at approximately half of its maximum, the sides of the opening 42 are loose and may move away from each other to catch the wind, which then inflates the body 40.
The process of hunting wild fowl may occupy a span of many hours. During this time, the intensity of the wind may change considerably. Accordingly, a hunter may wish to adjust the size of opening 42 in response to changing wind conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,506 to Tiley et al., hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a decoy with a drawstring that circumscribes an opening in an inflatable decoy body. The hunter may tie the drawstring so as to achieve different opening sizes according to prevailing wind conditions. Although this configuration may offer some improvement over the decoy disclosed in the Farmer patent, the process of untying and retying the drawstring for numerous decoys adds time to the deployment process and lengthens the time necessary to make an adjustment to previously deployed decoys when wind conditions change.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a decoy with a compact, lightweight design that can be easily deployed in large numbers. Further, it would be desirable to have a decoy that may be deployed in a relatively short span of time, with one hand, and while standing. Third, it would be desirable to have a decoy with a wind inflation opening for which the size may be adjusted quickly and with one hand.